Multimedia Tools in Education EDU677

Multimedia at its Best!

Throughout the 8 week course: Multimedia Tools in Education I've grown my tech-integration skills into my classroom more than I have in the last year alone. I've felt that at every resource offered during this course, I was finding and learning new ways to add to my 4th grade classroom lessons and planning. I've encouraged students to master a concept through offering various multimedia components. Each component was carefully aligned and designed with a specific student or group of students in mind. Reflection has also occurred with every new try of a tech tool in my instruction. This has ultimately built my confidence and quickness with creating and integrating tech throughout the school day. I'm becoming more and more comfortable and eager to plan using technology for the benefit of my students, and that is exciting!

Below are two artifacts which I am most proud of that I created throughout the last 8 weeks. 

The tall tale poster was a poster I created with a new tool I explored called: Piktochart. Through this assignment I was exposed to tools which allowed for creation with graphics to explain a topic. My students frequently struggle with the attributes of a tall tale in our 2nd trimester writing unit. I chose to make a resource that could serve both as an anchor chart or reference page for students to refer to during their writing of a tall tale. I also used this tool as a reference to teach the components of the tall tale as students were reading various tall tales. Additionally, I shared this tall tale with my colleagues and teammates and many of them have used it with their students as well. 

One of my favorite parts of this anchor chart and resource is it's color scheme and modern - feel. I think my choice in graphics lead to a flow of information and an emphasis on the important attributes of a tall tale. 

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The following artifact of a Homework Help video is the first of its kind in my classroom. This premiere of an attempt to help students and parents understand "new math" ideas and skills which has been a request by families in my classroom for a few years. This year, at parent teacher conferences, many parents expressed frustration with how to do this "new math".  They shared that the students were solving using tools and strategies they had not used as children. Parents felt helpless when it came to assisting with homework and studying for tests. Thus was born the idea to create quick insight on what students are expected to do on their homework. It additionally has begun to serve as a quick review to what we do in class each day. 

I've begun recording quick 5-10 screen videos on Loom in which I email home for homework help each night. Not only am I helping keep the lesson practice alive at home, but I'm encouraging students to get to the point in their own learning where they will be able to record the Homework Help video for a specific topic. The engagement and student accuracy on homework in my classroom has drastically increased for the better! Students and parents are watching these videos together and sharing conversations on "new math" ideas and skills. 

This video was a launching point in my career to remind myself how easy and effective one tweak in lesson planning can make. I'm feeling more confident with each video I make and record. I've had wonderful feedback from parents and best yet: I'm thinking of starting my own You Tube Homework Help Channel....stay tuned for the link here soon!

Homework Help Video #1 Link

A Closer Look At Graphic Design - Take 2

A Closer Look at Graphic Design

As an educator of 9 and 10 year olds, it is ever more important for the lesson I’m teaching to be engaging and fast - paced, yet packed with information.

I agree completely with Magno as she stated in her article entitled: 8 Examples of How Middle Schools Can Incorporate Infographics in the Classroom,  “they (students) want to be engaged, connected, motivated and independent.” (Magno, 2015). Through the use of graphic design, students can devour information as well as spark their brain to connect the information graphically. This is the number one reason, in my opinion, that incorporating graphic design into my classroom is a valuable experience.

In order for students to absorb information we can best support their learning by engaging their minds with graphic design. A graphic poster, reference page, or info graphic can be a source of calm and comfort for students needing quick reminders.

They can reference the graphic quickly and will remember the visual representation of the information provided. Success is sure to follow when a graphic is used with students together. Here is a sample info-graphic I’ve designed for the genre components of a Tall Tale:

I’ve used various graphics in my classroom throughout the school year as anchor charts, reference pages for their student binders. I’ve also encouraged students to make their own graphics to mind-map their thinking and learning throughout our classroom concepts. I believe students can retain an immense amount of knowledge by incorporating multimedia, and the use of graphics should not be overlooked.

Artifact Reflection Blog #4: Collaborative Web Tools: Keep it about Genre

Collaboration has been something I thought I was pretty good at using in my classroom for students to practice and reinforce skills I've been teaching in class. I generally used group work for students to discover new things, practice skills and ultimately flip my classroom into a problem based culture. The following artifact and project which I designed for my students to work with genre, a larger focus this year with regards to literacy in my school, is one activity I can't wait to try!

In my experience students at the 4th grade level tend to know the difference between fiction and nonfiction but their knowledge of genre usually ends with those two. Even their definitions of fiction and nonfiction are surface level and it takes many opportunities to prove that nonfiction is not just "real pictures." This artifact is a google classroom assignment focused on encouraging students to explore genre with a depth they may not have experienced before. Through the guiding questions, students are encouraged to think outside of their "normal" type of books, and to choose a genre they are less likely to read. They are to then study this genre and create/present a slide to the class in regards to their chosen new sub-genre to fiction or nonfiction.

The collaboration truly takes shape when students begin to comment and encourage one another with the commenting feature on google drive. Students are asked to collaborate with one another in a unique and timely way. They are then going to gain knowledge of different genres simply by helping one another on their individual slides.

I'm excited for this activity and ultimately hope to be able to use it within our Family Reading Night event at our school this year. I'd love to have students present their genre to families over the course of the night. Collaboration and encouraging a depth of learning at its best!

Artifact Reflection Blog #3 Collaborative Web Tools: Quickfire Challenge

Collaborative Web Tools Fall 2019 Artifact Reflection

As an educator collaboration has become a redefined term in my professional practice since beginning the Collaborative Web Tools class. I've begun to look for new and exciting ways to include students at all levels with and without technology. More importantly, I've continued the focus as I gained in our first course, and made sure that all technology decisions I make in my classroom are for a specific learning target.

As the course, Collaborative Web Tools comes to a close I'm thankful for the opportunity to build my professional toolbox a bit bigger with collaboration ideas. Much of the lessons and activities we were assigned came from existing lessons I am already implementing in my classroom. This allowed me to productively reform my teaching with technology as an aide and collaboration used for student success.

The following artifact entitled QuickFire Challenge is one I want to remember for a variety of reasons. First, it was a real challenge for me with technology. Though I'm happy to admit I'm tech savvy, this new app entitled "Goose Chase" was one that reminded me of the importance of perseverance with learning. I worked for 45 minutes straight trying to get an activity for my students to keep them engaged and ultimately focusing on learning and reviewing basic place value targets. It was challenging, but a necessary activity to remind myself that time should never be the reason I stop trying to move forward with technology in my classroom. I ultimately learned a great lesson with this activity. I'm happy to report that my students enjoyed Goose Chase and I did too. We can't wait to use it again.

I can instantly see it as a great review opportunity for students at some point during the year with place value concepts. It will help with the mastery of these skills and give students another formative way to demonstrate their knowledge. I'm eager to use this again next year.

Foundations of Educational Technology Course Reflection: Thank You for the Reminders

Technology is a key component in my classroom. If it weren't I don't think I'd be involved in this cohort.Through the last 6 weeks of this course I found reminder after reminder of best practices with technology in any classroom. I found myself in constant reflection mode. Asking myself "how can I do this better?"  Yet, it hasn't been something I have given as much attention to over the last few years. I think I took for granted my tech savvy background and expected students to follow my learning with technology. Yet I was ignoring many learning opportunities for career readiness.

Students have become more "tech comfortable" yet still need to be taught many best practices within the network of technology. They need to see models of what technology is going to allow us to do in the future and how to best use tools of technology for daily life.

Since taking Foundations of Educational Technology my level of "connected educator" has multiplied. My Twitter account has become a place I enjoy becoming professionally educated. I enjoy reading and seeing what other educators are working on and learning about. I'm engaged in a whole new network that I visited rarely in years past.
More importantly the role of an educational leader is something I'm excited to take on with regards to technology in my school community. As a member of our Building Leadership Team, I'm excited to become more of a contributor to best practices with technology in our school community. I can't wait to share what we can all do to connect our students to become global digital citizens, especially starting with my 4th grade teammates. Having a colleague in this cohort helps with this goal and allows us to move together for better use of technology in our school.

It is an exciting start to the school year and this first course was key in that excitement!

Artifact Reflection Blog #2 Trendy Research Paper

Writing a research paper was one of the assignments I dreaded most in my first graduate course in almost 10 years. I was not ready nor prepared for the depth of writing required...or so I thought. As with many students, I had talked myself into the "Negative Nellie" mindset on this assignment and was letting the negative thoughts cloud what ultimately was a significant learning opportunity for growth in educational technology. Once I opened my mindset and actually started researching for the paper, I was flooded with excitement for next school year. I was ready to start with the two trends I studied: parent communication and online student portfolios.

Click here to see my research paper.

Throughout the work I did for this paper I naturally paused to reflect on past practices in my own classroom. Last year, I began using Remind.com to communicate with families. I chose to integrate this tools because I heard great things from other teachers about the success they had with Remind in their classroom communities. The benefit to my classroom was the way that parents were able to comfortably and securely text me with questions or comments about their child. I enjoyed being able to send quick reminders to the whole class or select only a few at a time. It made communicating much easier and convenient for all of us and I intended on continuing to use it, but now I was on to the best practices with Remind...I couldn't wait to learn more.
I since have been discussing remind with other colleagues in my PLN (Professional Learning Network) and enjoyed a few suggestions I can't wait to use. First and foremost, the idea of sending parents positive notes throughout the day. I did this rarely last year, but know it will make a big impact on the home school connection by utilizing it more with many students each day. Secondly, the ability to schedule messages was something I knew was an option in Remind, but did not utilize to its fullest potential last year. I will focus on this and pre-type messages for parents throughout the year to aid in my classroom organization and to-do list completion.

Like Remind, Seesaw will get a lot more attention and use from me this school year. Though I used it regularly with students last year, there are so many more ideas that I have found to be useful. Those ideas and suggestions came once again through my studies for this research paper. I found ways to integrate Seesaw and focus on the student reflection piece that so desperately needs attention within my classroom. Students reflecting on their learning means students are focused on learning. This goal is key in any successful classroom. I know I need to work more here for student success and Seesaw is going to be a significant tech tool next school year.
The second benefit that I need to focus on more with Seesaw is again that parent home connection. Some parents really got into the online portfolio and commenting on their students work, while others didn't tap in as much. I left it up to their comfort level, but didn't think about the parent education end of it all. Through the research I did on this paper, I learned a lot about the need to sometimes teach parents to help them become more comfortable with the technology our students are using. I intend to do this through offering times I will meet with parents to share how to use Seesaw painlessly. If parents want help, I'll be there as before, but this time just center it around the technology that might be holding them back.

Needless to say, once I got rid of the fixed mindset I had on this research paper assignment, the learning occurred. See even an "old dog" needs a growth mindset reminder once in a while!

Artifact Reflection Blog #1: Keep it Academic

Keeping technology in our classroom strictly for academic purposes was probably one of the most "Ah ha moments" I have had throughout this first Educational Technology course. During Module 7 we reviewed and discussed strategies for technology integration models as well as managing devices in our classrooms. To be honest, I thought I had this covered. I have been teaching with tech devices in my classroom for at least 10 years and I just thought I had this figured out. I numbered my Chromebooks, set expectations for students to retrieve and return the devices in an orderly fashion, and discussed how to hold the computers properly. We went through apps and websites they could use during the school day, and I expected them to do so. I spent an hour or so each year discussing with students the importance of using computers for the right reasons in our classroom, and that was that. Rarely did I return to the conversation or expectations, until this module...

During class, a colleague and I studied the first article for our class discussion from Ulearning.com. 7 Tools to Help You Managing Digital Devices in the Classroom is an article full of fantastic reminders about using technology in our classroom. And the very best tool, in my opinion, was the reminder to keep technology use centered around the academics in our classrooms. Though it was an obvious statement, it was this tip that got me reflecting on this practice in my classroom.

Keeping technology academic at school has always been my goal, yet was it always at the forefront of my students' minds when they were using tech in my classroom? I certainly could answer "no". Too many times I remember having discussions with students about their choice of time with a computer. I asked what they were really doing. I knew even before I asked the question that playing a racing game wasn't the best way for them to be practicing any standard for learning in class. Yet, how did I get them to the point of understanding? The answer was clear after I reflected on the article I read: model and discuss this expectation explicitly in the beginning of the year. Expect students to stick to this rule! It became my inspiration for the poster I created for the Module 7 assignment "Guideline Design".

My goal is to discuss this poster with my students on the first day of school and revisit it regularly. More importantly the creation of this artifact has encouraged me to be more reflective on my own personal use of technology in my classroom throughout the day. I often have my phone in hand, or right next to me during my lessons. Why? I think it is easy to use the excuse it's because I'm a mom and if someone needs me I need to be there. But this is just an excuse. I wear an Apple Watch for that reason. I have my phone by my side because it is a habit. One that is probably not the best in following my "keep technology academic at school" rule.

So, after this reflection, I'm certain to make some changes next year. My phone is going to stay on my desk, or in my cabinet until lunch or after school. I will still see alerts and messages on my watch, but I don't have to have the phone on me at all times. This is a model to  my students of my "keep technology academic" rule. If I expect them to follow it, I should too!

Collaboration Assignment

For an example of a collaboration assignment I would include in my classroom I've created the following Padlet:

 Learning Target: I can retell events in order.

Students will visit this Padlet and read the instructions as stated on the description bar. "After reading to page 30 of Porpoises in Peril, Retell Kate's actions using a sequence of events.  Be sure to outline the events in order and use specific text details (words from the text) to describe the event. 
Name your post with your group members' names."

This is one of the first assignments we complete as a class after reading together a text during whole group ELA time. 

By encouraging group work and through the use of Padlet, students can see ideas of their classmates which helps with their confidence working with technology within the first week or so of school. 

Introducing...Mrs. Sarah Wells

My name is Sarah Wells and I'm a 4th grade teacher at Troy Hofer Elementary School in Shorewood, IL.

I've wanted to be a teacher since as early as I can remember and I simply love each and every day with my students. As I end my 11th year in the Troy School District, I'm excited, but also in disbelief that this was actually my 17th year of teaching! I've taught 5th grade, multi-age accelerated 3rd and 4th graders, and for the last 4 years, 4th grade. Teaching is my favorite thing to do besides camping and spending time with my family.

I'm also a mom of two strong, young men, Dyson(8) and Deyton(5). We use technology at home as a tool for learning. I try out my technology lessons with them when I can, and look for their latest favorite tech tools to use in my classroom. My husband, Derek is also a "tech guy", but more so in the business - world. He is the director of IT and manages over 300 companies' networks. We collaborate with ideas for tech in our daily lives, but more importantly share thoughts on what works for kids, and what might be useful for kids to learn so when they become career ready they are set or even ahead of the "tech game."

I'm happy to say I'm balancing my students' time with technology for learning in my classroom. I see the focus and purpose of teaching with technology in ways I hope will support my students in their future careers and professional lives. It is with pride that I grow leaders in my classroom!

The humorous addition to this blog? Well, that last paragraph was written before our forced Remote E - Learning began in March of 2020. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, I'd say that balance I boasted about in balancing learning with technology was turned on its head. I, as well as my students, were forced into technology teaching and guiding our day to day interactions and conversations. I learned more about technology during the last 3 months of teaching remotely, than I probably have in my last 5 years of teaching.

Fortunately my comfort with jumping into new technology, helped propel the new adventure of online teaching. However, I'm not done. I seek ways to find ideas that work and are great foundational platforms and applications that I can continue to build on throughout the school year. I'm excited to learn all sorts of tricks and tips with technology and how to be better engaging with my students and using technology collaboratively in the classroom.

I hope you will join me on this educational technology journey and share your favorite ideas with me as well!